Cross: Sumner wins in Central League

Ben Sumner (Beeline Bicycles) won the second round of the Central League on Saturday, taking victory by more than a minute and a half from his nearest rival on a course at the MK Bowl in Buckinghamshire.

The 19-year-old from near Reading, who has ridden mainly Mountain Bike Cross-Country events in the past, is riding more cyclo-cross events this season. His victory in Saturday’s race – round two of the Central League – comes three weeks after he won a race in the Wessex League.

“It was a good race, but I didn’t feel too good off the line because I didn’t warm up enough, but I soon got going,” he said afterwards. “I’ve always focused on MTB so my cross skills aren’t so good and I made a couple of silly mistakes where I slipped on a few muddy corners, but it’s best to make those mistakes now rather than in big races.

“I’m focusing on the National Trophy this year. The European Championship is in Ipswich this year, and the selection race is Round One of the National Trophy in Abergavenny . Plus I want to do the while series this year. I’ve only ever done the Trophy races for training really, so it’ll be good to go for it this year.

“I led from the start today, and I only really had to get past the back markers. My only worry before the race was Mike Simpson, but he didn’t bother me too much.

“The Central League is a good series and I’ll ride it where I can, but I can’t ride them all. I’ve got a heavy schedule with the National Trophy and the Rapha Supercross, so I won’t be doing enough to qualify for the league.”

Sumner covered nine laps in 1:00:19, and crossed the line 1:33 ahead of his nearest rival, Mike Smith, while his Team Corley Cycles’ team-mate took third, another 43 seconds off the pace.

British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.